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helena_blythe's review
5.0
This book is not one you can casually read. I'm a fairly perceptive reader and to be honest, I'm not sure I fully grasp it. But there is nothing else like it, and it is an amazing book to work through.
I can see, though, that this book would have been an example of the occultism that Tolkien felt Williams was choosing to make himself vulnerable to -- reportedly one of the reasons for the 'split' between Lewis and Tolkien. The occultism is blatant and is clearly used for evil, but one does take away the feeling that Williams was just a bit too enamored with it. Still, though, it's a book I recommend, written by an author who should be much more appreciated and well known than he is.
I can see, though, that this book would have been an example of the occultism that Tolkien felt Williams was choosing to make himself vulnerable to -- reportedly one of the reasons for the 'split' between Lewis and Tolkien. The occultism is blatant and is clearly used for evil, but one does take away the feeling that Williams was just a bit too enamored with it. Still, though, it's a book I recommend, written by an author who should be much more appreciated and well known than he is.
butterfike's review
1.0
Lots of anti-Semitic tropes and not a lot of interesting theology. I loved Descent Into Hell and I really like what I think Williams often tries to do by marrying traditional Christianity with mysticism. But this felt like a huge swing and a miss. Namely because it felt overly simplistic and unwilling to explore the complexities of the mysticism it focused on.
The villain is often referred to as “The Jew” (which… yikes) and is contrasted regularly with “that other Jew” (Christ). Hard not to feel like there’s a very clear duality between “good” Jewish people and bad. And the difference seems to lie in a very misguided understanding of Kabbalah—a Jewish mystic philosophy that many Jewish people still revere today—and the worn, anti-Semitic belief that if you’re not a Jewish person who believes in the resurrection (i.e. a Christian… not a Jew) then you’re lost. Reading Williams’s take on this “bad magic” and lost souls felt a lot like reading a Christian mom’s recital of one of the Harry Potter books she’s never read. And then there’s a lot of talk about the characters viewing the Jewishness of the villain’s face, the villain’s obsession with controlling the world, etc. Just hard to read this post-WWII novel and not think “oh no, this is really really bad.”
Also nothing close to the beauty of the Doctrine of Substituted Love or the like. Really just felt like an over-zealous and confused retelling of a Revelation tale. Wasn’t about it. Wouldn’t recommend it. And don’t feel bad about the one star since homeboy is dead. Pick up a copy of Descent Into Hell and only delve into this one if you need a swift reminder that no author should be considered a hero outside his time.
The villain is often referred to as “The Jew” (which… yikes) and is contrasted regularly with “that other Jew” (Christ). Hard not to feel like there’s a very clear duality between “good” Jewish people and bad. And the difference seems to lie in a very misguided understanding of Kabbalah—a Jewish mystic philosophy that many Jewish people still revere today—and the worn, anti-Semitic belief that if you’re not a Jewish person who believes in the resurrection (i.e. a Christian… not a Jew) then you’re lost. Reading Williams’s take on this “bad magic” and lost souls felt a lot like reading a Christian mom’s recital of one of the Harry Potter books she’s never read. And then there’s a lot of talk about the characters viewing the Jewishness of the villain’s face, the villain’s obsession with controlling the world, etc. Just hard to read this post-WWII novel and not think “oh no, this is really really bad.”
Also nothing close to the beauty of the Doctrine of Substituted Love or the like. Really just felt like an over-zealous and confused retelling of a Revelation tale. Wasn’t about it. Wouldn’t recommend it. And don’t feel bad about the one star since homeboy is dead. Pick up a copy of Descent Into Hell and only delve into this one if you need a swift reminder that no author should be considered a hero outside his time.
pedanther's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
joshwrose's review
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book could be described as anti-Semitic and ableist.
sockielady's review against another edition
2.0
I decided I wanted to read something by Charles Williams after I learned of his friendships with JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis. In fact, I had read that initially, he was the most popular and critically acclaimed of the three authors. So when this book showed up in one of my daily ebook deal emails, I got it. While I was quite intrigued by the premise of the story, I was very disappointed in the writing style. In my opinion, Mr. Williams' writing is rather long winded, and at times erratic: some passages were exquisitely beautiful, while others were so confusing that I could make neither heads nor tails of them, even after reading them two or three times. I found myself struggling to get through this book, and I doubt I will be reading any more of his books.
hayesstw's review
4.0
There were two dead girls.
They were killed by an aeroplane shot down over London on WW2, and after death they wander round the city and gradually become more aware of what they had been and what they are becoming, and in the process grow apart, as one grows towards repentance and the other to resentment.
They were killed by an aeroplane shot down over London on WW2, and after death they wander round the city and gradually become more aware of what they had been and what they are becoming, and in the process grow apart, as one grows towards repentance and the other to resentment.
rachael_amber's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
kjcharles's review against another edition
Ugh. This would have been amazing except for a horrible kernel of antisemitism which taints the whole thing.
Opens with a woman waiting on Westminster Bridge for her husband and slowly realising she's dead. Extends out to an astonishing imaginative look at loss, love, redemption, and hope, includes a fine portrait of an abusive mother, and a deep, sharp look at how casual 'mean girls' type social cruelties are actually on a continuum with extremes of malice and cruelty. Also a great portrait of the central rabble-rousing false preacher, some terrific scary scenes around a portrait and a mystical view of the City which reminded me of Eliot.
Only the resemblance doesn't end there, because of course the false prophet is Jewish, and not in passing either, and this book was written post WW2 for crying out loud. No decent human could pretend they didn't know where antisemitism led at that point, and it's farcical and grotesque to watch a writer meditating on the importance of open-hearted love and the malignancy of petty cruelty to other people while mounted on a sodding great trumpeting woolly mammoth in the room. Bah.
Opens with a woman waiting on Westminster Bridge for her husband and slowly realising she's dead. Extends out to an astonishing imaginative look at loss, love, redemption, and hope, includes a fine portrait of an abusive mother, and a deep, sharp look at how casual 'mean girls' type social cruelties are actually on a continuum with extremes of malice and cruelty. Also a great portrait of the central rabble-rousing false preacher, some terrific scary scenes around a portrait and a mystical view of the City which reminded me of Eliot.
Only the resemblance doesn't end there, because of course the false prophet is Jewish, and not in passing either, and this book was written post WW2 for crying out loud. No decent human could pretend they didn't know where antisemitism led at that point, and it's farcical and grotesque to watch a writer meditating on the importance of open-hearted love and the malignancy of petty cruelty to other people while mounted on a sodding great trumpeting woolly mammoth in the room. Bah.
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